Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after go

[chazus]

No, the only thing that surprises me here is that they're not charging interests.

Except, they are.

have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse

Which just means.... everyone is unsurprised.

[TrumpIsPresident]

Except, they are.

Which just means.... everyone is unsurprised.

Oh ya interest if they refuse to pay back on demand, utter bullshit.

[Xires]

Just to clarify a couple of things.

I find this both amazingly disgusting and mindboggling. But it is also worth noting that THIS is one of the countless moronic, idiotic, ass backwards retarded policies left over from the Bush era.

There is absolutely no reason to shift the blame or burden either to the State of California, its people or its current government.

There are 3 lots to blame here. The Bush era retards running the Pentagon and the people who just gave them a blank check with no oversight, and the current morons who are indiscriminately hounding veterans for something that isn't their fault.

OP you really need to redirect your anger where it belongs. Bush, the blank check warhawks and the pencil pushers at the Pentagon now.

The Federal government should step in to mend this situation reasonably.

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Again it's not the State of California. It's the California National Guard, under the Pentagon. It was the Pentagon's money and it's the Pentagon demanding it back.

Bush literally had nothing to do with it. The question is will the next POTUS get it fixed on their behalf.

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Once more, the US system punishes the people furthest down on the ladder instead of those at the top who made the mistake and can actually pay for it.
Capitalism as usual.

\

Has NOTHING to do with capitalism my socialist friend.

[Deleted]

lol America.

[Deleted]

Devil's advocate; couldn't you actually make the argument that government is doing a good thing in not neglecting wrongful out payments and ensuring that they clean up their mistakes and not just throw around the tax payers money recklessly?

Again, I am just playing devil's advocate here.

You could if you ignore everything else. Those bonuses where part of a contract (at least something similar). Do the vets get back their time spent in the army?

[TwoNineMarine]

Eat a fat one government.

Let those guys keep their money. You fucked up. They didn't.

[zenkai]

You can't go after dept that old, this isn't stupid loans, the government can fuck off.

[Mehrunes]

So if it was the National Guard that committed the overpaying, why aren't the ones to get punished?

[Sunseeker]

So if it was the National Guard that committed the overpaying, why aren't the ones to get punished?

Because the options are:
A: Do nothing, nobody like this option.
B: Subtract it from the National Guard's budget (noone is in favor of reducing military spending).
C: Get it back from the little guy.

[Independent voter]

Mmmm, it's 1 state out of 50. It's not a national issue, we in Nevada can't do anything about it.

[Wyrt]

They're going to sue, they're going to win money for damages, and then the US government will have less money. Whoever decided this was a good idea is a fucking moron and should be fired from their job.

[I Push Buttons]

So if it was the National Guard that committed the overpaying, why aren't the ones to get punished?

That's how usually how it works for most errors like this.

You mistakenly pay your employee too much, you mistakenly deposit money into the wrong account, you disburse too much money for some entitlement (social security, welfare, etc.)... 99/100 times the people who get the money have to pay it back.

But as many others have said, they should write this off and be done with it. Most notably because the soldiers who accepted the incentives held up their end of the agreement... They didn't just get the money for nothing, they reenlisted in the military specifically because of these incentives. Not to mention it was a decade ago.

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They're going to sue, they're going to win money for damages, and then the US government will have less money. Whoever decided this was a good idea is a fucking moron and should be fired from their job.

It is pretty difficult to sue the government, even more so in this case in particular because the government is legally in the right.

[GennGreymane]

Well done pentagon..... ~_~

[Trumpcat]

It's a disgrace. Twist it turn it, favor Dems, favor Reps, however you put it it's a disgrace.

[Wyrt]

That's how usually how it works for most errors like this.

You mistakenly pay your employee too much, you mistakenly deposit money into the wrong account, you disburse too much money for some entitlement (social security, welfare, etc.)... 99/100 times the people who get the money have to pay it back.

But as many others have said, they should write this off and be done with it. Most notably because the soldiers who accepted the incentives held up their end of the agreement... They didn't just get the money for nothing, they reenlisted in the military specifically because of these incentives. Not to mention it was a decade ago.

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It is pretty difficult to sue the government, even more so in this case in particular because the government is legally in the right.

It's not an error though. It was an agreement made by the US government that they are no going back on.

[Dextroden]

The natural response to this garbage is "Make a time machine and give me those years back".

Idiots shouldn't be setting precedents for fucking over the brave men and women in any branch of the military when they desperately need them to die in the Middle East for them.

[I Push Buttons]

It's not an error though. It was an agreement made by the US government that they are no going back on.

Agreements made without approval.

In 2010, after reports surfaced of improper payments, a federal investigation found that thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were given to California Guard soldiers who did not qualify for them, or were approved despite paperwork errors.

Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guard’s incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.

Like I said though, they should waive the repayment.

[Toppy]

The military is pretty demoralized as it is right now, from what my couple of buddies in the army tell me.

The government hasnt really cared about its soldiers in years, both democrat and republican.

[I Push Buttons]

You realize the Pentagon and Federal Government have dick all to do with the Guard right? Each state is managed by the governor and internal Guard chain of command. They only fall under the federal government when they're federalized for deployment. What happened is the California Guard liberally applied recruitment bonuses to people who didn't qualify. These are weekend warriors. The lowest of the low in terms of military quality. There's a reason the Army removed combat arms jobs from the Reserve forces.

If the California Guard awarded bonuses the federal government didn't agree to, the cost should come from California's budget. But coming to this decision would require context and an understanding of the facts. Why let that get in the way of blaming Bush or the Pentagon.

Quite ironic since you seem to have not read the article yourself.

The facts (as presented by the article):
- Pentagon had high recruitment quotas.
- California Guard offered incentives it wasn't authorized to offer to increase recruitment.
- Troops who signed up for the incentives received them and served.
- Pentagon audit reveals the unauthorized incentives.
- Recruitment/incentive officers who offered the incentives punished.
- Pentagon, not California Guard, demands the money back.
- California Guard is actually working with these soldiers to file appeals and request waivers from the pentagon.
- Only the pentagon can waive what it claims is owed.

[I Push Buttons]

So what part of California offered bonuses it wasn't allowed to did I miss? None of this is Bush's fault. None of it is the Pentagon's fault. California could resolve the issue by paying back what it illegally took. Yet you haven't advocated that.

California didn't? The national guard is almost entirely federally funded and run outside of the guard being called up by a governor to perform some action within their state.